Aster Haile, Ruta Girmai and Hiwan Kidane take part in a traditional coffee ceremony at the YWCA Friday. (Charlene Tebbutt/paNOW Staff)

By Charlene Tebbutt

Celebrating women

A day for women of all cultures

Mar 9, 2019 | 8:16 AM

Music, incense and laughter filled the air as the local YWCA hosted a potluck lunch to celebrate women Friday in honour of International Women’s Day.

About 40 women spent time at the downtown location. The event included various cultural foods and sweets. There were henna tattoos on site, and newcomers to Canada originally from Eritrea in East Africa hosted a traditional coffee ceremony to welcome guests.

Amna Hamid works with women and families as they arrive in Prince Albert. Originally from Egypt, Hamid said it can be exciting, but also lonely for women as they adjust to life in Canada.

Hamid said it’s important women feel valued and have a place to share ideas and their culture with others.

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“For all the women in the world, this is a very special day,” Hamid said Friday. “I feel like we are important, we have a day for us.”

“You can make a difference where you are and you are special as the woman who you are,” Carolyn Hobden, YWCA

It’s the second year the YWCA has hosted the event in its new downtown location, inside the former Wesley United Church. The organization had hosted a scaled-down version of the event at its former home, but the celebration has been expanded now that the group has a larger space.

Carolyn Hobden with YWCA Settlement Services said the event gives women from a variety of cultures the chance to share with others and celebrate the accomplishments of women around the world. A small mirror on a wall in the room hung next to pictures of famous women from various backgrounds who have made significant contributions in a variety of areas.

“We put a little mirror there that says ‘you,’ meaning that you can make a difference where you are and you are special as the woman who you are,” Hobden said.

A small mirror hangs next to pictures of famous women from around the world at the YWCA in downtown Prince Albert. (Charlene Tebbutt/paNOW Staff)

Women fill important roles in every community, Hobden said, but are often overlooked as well.

“It’s nice that we have this special day where we can recognize the mom, the woman in the family and all the work that she does,” Hobden said. “We’re very fortunate in Canada that we’re working more towards equality for women, but in a lot of countries that our clients have come from, that is not the case.”

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt